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“Becca, we have to go,” He practically barks at me. “Is this guy bothering you?”
I see Roman’s eyes flare in recognition, maybe he’s seen Adam around before, before they land on my arm where Adam is gripping my elbow. “It's all good, boss.” I tell him before cooly turning to Roman.
“I’ll call you again sometime.” I keep my words even and my face devoid of all emotion. Roman recoils like he’s been slapped.
“Sure.”
The word hangs in the air and the look of betrayal in his eyes haunts me the entire way back down to the docks as I follow Adam.
“You need to cut him off before he becomes a liability.”
I refuse to look his way and shrug, “I need something fun in my spare time.”
Adam chuckles and the sound of it is mean. “You’re a cold-hearted bitch, Reynolds I’ll give you that one. Prince Charming up there looked like you kicked his puppy.”
I shrug off his words. I search the horizon for the cargo ship instead. I need this shipment to get here as soon as possible. I need evidence, and then I need to end this case. I might not ever get to have Roman the way I want him, but he at least deserves to know the truth about me.
ChapterNine
Roman
My father said I would know when I found the one. That it would hit me, hard, fast and I wouldn’t want to let her get away. I’ve been looking for that feeling, and for the first time, I had it within my grasp. She did hit hard. She crashed right into my life, literally, and after holding her, spinning her around in the rain, I knew Becca Reynolds was meant to be mine.
Until I went to the docks to bring her coffee at work. Until the guy I’ve seen her with before, put hands on her again. She recoiled when I reached to help her, but he was able to lay hands on her. She called him boss, but her tone hinted at a longer lasting relationship. She dismissed me easily, and walked away after looking at me like she didn’t know me. As if my tongue wasn’t just down her throat last night.
I watched as they headed down to the water together. Watched while they had a heated conversation where he touched her jaw with his fingers. I couldn’t take my eyes off her when I saw her reach into her boot and pull out a gun before pocketing it in the back of her jeans. Nothing about their interaction felt normal, and seeing her wield a weapon brought me right back to the night of the crash. How easily she played it off. How she was so willing to do whatever was needed in order for there to be as little fuss as possible.
I take in deep breaths and come to the realization that my gut was right the first time. Becca has secrets, and I would bet money right now that she is into something illegal. That guy looked sketchy, and his dark eyes were murderous. She called him boss and in the same tone acted like she barely knew me. She was hiding something, and playing one of us. My bet was on me. She’d already wrecked my restaurant and got out of it with a few grand and some volunteer hours. I couldn’t continue to let myself be swept away by her. My feelings might have carried the weight of a Mack truck, but my dad had to have been wrong about the rest. Just because it felt right, doesn’t always mean it is.
* * *
It’s two days before Becca shows up in front of me again, knocking on my door. While I’ve been preparing to say goodbye to her, I have no idea what she’s been doing. I didn’t reach out to her, or respond to her text asking if we could talk. I could feel it in my bones that something wasn’t right. That guy who was with her was all wrong, and on more than one occasion he’d grabbed her. I wanted to knock his teeth out the first time I saw it, and when it happened again in front of me, I almost did. In the end I bit back my words because she acted like it was the most normal thing in the world. Which brings me back to who is Becca Reynolds? And why is she in Candy Cane Key? I could ask her, but her sudden reappearance puts me on edge instead.
“Hey,” I say to her, answering my door, and stepping outside. I see the way her face falls before she pulls in her emotions.
“Hi. I’m sorry to show up at your house but I was wondering if we could talk.”
The hopefulness in her eyes has my stomach in knots. It wouldn’t be that hard to say yes, and believe everything she has to tell me. I could hold her instead. Too bad my instincts are raging that there are things she isn’t saying. “Yeah,” I tell her and let my hands slide into the pockets of my jeans. “You start.”
Her shoulders wobble with a deep inhaled breath before her eyes hold mine. “I’m sorry about how I acted at the docks the other day. I wasn’t expecting you, and with Adam there, I didn’t want him to think we were talking about personal things. He’s watching the work I do closely.”
My back feels tight from the emotion of listening to her half-truths. I want to believe what she’s saying but I can’t shake the feeling it isn’t the whole story. “Adam is your boss?”
“More like a supervisor to our boss, but yes,” She replies and I wonder even more at their dynamic.
“Does he always grab you like that?”
Her eyes dart away before coming back to mine, “He’s an asshole.”
“Thats not really an answer, Becca. Thats twice now I’ve seen him put hands on you. I didn’t react because you said he was your boss, but he’s a prick. You talk back to me, and you show me how strong you are. For him you practically roll over and pretend you don’t know me,” I push it all out there.
Pink tinges her cheeks, “There isn’t more I can tell you. Adam is a dick. He’s also in charge of my paycheck right now while I’m here.”
“And how long is that? Why are you here? Just to work at the docks, but for how long. I live here permanently. This is my home and the people on this island are my family. You haven’t even told me your plans past the next weekend,” My words seem to be little bullets she can’t run from. I see her body straightening and a mask pulling over her features.
“No offense, Rome, but we’re just starting to get to know each other. I haven’t said anything about how long I’ll be here because I don’t know. And since you don’t share all your feelings, how was I supposed to know this would be something past next weekend.”
So she does have some spitfire in her. She can show resistance to me unless it’s about her work. “Do you always carry a gun at work?”
